Soldiers come to the world

All night long, the defenders on the city wall heard and saw the movement outside the city, drums and horns sounded everywhere, and torches gathered from all directions towards Xuchang City like a torrent. On the plain outside, the soldiers guarding the city were stunned by the situation outside the city.

As far as the eye can see, there are black troops marching everywhere, and outside the four city gates, there are white tents everywhere, stretching for several miles, like mushrooms growing overnight.

The main force of the Han army pressed down across the board, including the [-] soldiers newly incorporated into the Han army. A total of [-] troops surrounded Xuchang City. The drums sounded like thunder and the flags were like the sea.

About [-] steps away from the four walls of the city, the Han army is busy building high platforms with bricks, stones and earth. These high platforms are on the same level as the Xuchang city. The soldiers at the top of the city didn't know the intention of the Han army to build these high platforms, and they whispered among themselves.

But there are also experienced veterans who have participated in the Hefei War and still have fresh memories of the high platform outside Hefei. Someone shouted, "This is the launch pad for the trebuchet!"

Cao Jun's soldiers were in an uproar, covering such a large area, what a huge trebuchet this must be, they stared blankly at the high platforms, and their hearts were full of fear.

At the same time, two miles away from the northern city, thousands of Han troops were building a huge wooden platform. The wooden platform had already taken shape, and the flagpole was five feet high. There is a big "Liu" character, which means that Han Wang Liu Jing has appeared in the army.

The appearance of this royal flag hit the defenders of Xuchang City hard, and their morale was low for a while. Although Cao Zhen captured [-] strong men, everyone knew that these strong men had not received any training and must not go to the city, otherwise However, once the Han army attacked the city aggressively, these strong men would inevitably collapse and flee, which would seriously cause chaos in the army.

Cao Zhenqiang’s original intention of arresting the strong men was to let them manipulate the catapults on the top of the city and transport materials. There are 120 heavy-duty catapults on the top of Xuchang City, with a range of up to 1 steps. There are only [-] people, where can we separate human-powered trebuchets.

Although Cao Zhen also knew that these strong men would not be able to face a fierce battle, but now, he has no time to train, so he can only hastily put them into the battle preparation.

At this time, cheers like mountains and tsunami came from outside the city. Cao Zhen, who was inspecting the defense at the top of the city, was taken aback. He turned his head and looked outside the city. He saw dozens of people appearing on the high platform outside the North City. and counselors, surrounded by a man whose golden helmet gleamed in the sun.

Cao Zhen's heart suddenly sank into an abyss. He had already guessed that the man wearing the golden helmet must be Liu Jing, the King of Han. Cao Zhen gradually became desperate. At this moment, his heart was full of hatred for Cao Pi. He defended Xuchang at all costs, but refused to support him. This was obviously the Xuchang who let him die in battle. Cao Zhen hated him so much that he punched the city wall hard.

Liu Jing stood on a high wooden platform, looking down at Xuchang City from a high position. Xuchang is the place where Cao Cao prospered and the foundation of Cao Cao's fortune. Shake the rule of Cao Wei. mredype='pge-spl'num='2'>

Liu Jing also didn't understand why Cao Cao didn't pay enough attention to Xuchang, and the number of troops stationed was far lower than that in Xuzhou. Is it true that Xuzhou is the gate of Qingzhou, as Pang Tong said, if Xuzhou is lost, Qingzhou will be difficult to protect, and Xuchang is lost , at least the Yellow River can be defended.

Liu Jing shook his head. If Cao Cao really thought this way, it can only be said that he made a major strategic mistake.

While thinking about it, Pin quickly stepped forward to report: "Your Highness, the pier of Beicheng has been built!"

Liu Jing stepped forward, leaned on the railing and looked down, only to see that about [-] steps away from the city wall, the Han army had built more than forty huge piers, stretching for about ten miles, Liu Jing looked again. The Xuchang city where they were located, they knew the deployment of Xuchang like the back of their hands, there were only [-] defenders, and with the powerful siege capabilities of the Han army, they could take Xuchang city within a day.

Liu Jing read the head slowly, "You can start."

Pin was in high spirits. He had been waiting for this day for many years. When the Han army was sieging cities and looting villages everywhere, his army could only stand by and watch. Today finally came the moment when the Xiangwan army was proud. He ordered: "Deploy the trebuchet!"

The piers built outside Xuchang City were prepared for trebuchets. To attack Xuchang, the hired army prepared nearly two hundred giant trebuchets. This kind of trebuchet was exactly the same as the trebuchet Zhao Yun used to conquer Hangu Pass, with a height of three feet. , throwing a pole up to five feet, can throw a hundred catties of boulders more than four hundred steps, this is the trebuchet specially designed by the Han Dynasty Weapon Supervisor for Cao Jun's city head.

Cao Jun's major cities, such as Xuchang, Yedu, Pengcheng, Luoyang, Qiaoxian and other places, are equipped with heavy-duty trebuchets, which are the limit of the trebuchets that can be installed at the top of the city. Step out.

The military supervisor of the Han Army designed this giant trebuchet for the range of the Cao Jun's trebuchet, which can just avoid the range of the Cao Jun's trebuchet. to the battlefield.

Driven by dozens of steers and hundreds of soldiers, the huge trebuchet slowly climbed up the platform from the slope, and dozens of soldiers were busy fixing it on the platform. Soon, more than forty The platform on which a giant trebuchet was pushed, its huge body made every Cao soldier at the top of the city feel terrified.

Cao Zhen suddenly reacted and shouted: "Use the bed crossbow and boulders quickly to destroy them!"

Cao Zhen had already realized the tactics of the Han army. The Han army wanted to eradicate the catapults on the top of the city first, and then attack the top of the city with an overwhelming number of troops, so as to capture Xuchang City. Cao Zhen was so nervous that his heart was about to jump out. Knife shouted: "Shoot fireballs and burn them!"

Thirty trebuchets at the head of Xuchang City creaked and opened, and huge fireballs went 'bang!boom! 'It was fired from the ground, with billowing smoke and flames, and shot towards the Han army pier. Although the range of the fireball was only [-] steps, it was extremely elastic.

However, the Han army has long been on guard, and each mound is equipped with baffles. No matter whether it is a powerful crossbow or a fireball, it will be stopped by the baffles. Although Cao Jun's offensive is fierce, their The attack was unable to effectively shoot the Han army's catapults.

At this time, more than forty trebuchets were ready, and the offensive flag was waved on the command platform. The Han army trebuchets were suddenly launched, and a kerosene pot weighing a hundred catties rose into the air, roaring towards the top of the city. The pot fell on the top of the city, smashed into pieces, and the flames splashed all over the ground.

"Use sand!"

Cao Zhen shouted loudly, "Cover the fire oil with sand!"

Cao Jun knew how to deal with kerosene, water was useless, only to cover it with mud and sand, hundreds of Cao Jun soldiers rushed up from the city carrying mud and sand, but before they could cover up, Cao Jun soldiers around shouted and squatted down one after another The body, the second round of projection of the Han army broke out, the second round of shooting is no longer fire oil, but burning oil slurry, like a goddess scattering flowers, countless fire balls scattered on the top of the city, instantly read Burned the fire oil flowing on the city head.

At the head of the North City of Xuchang, thick smoke billowed suddenly and flames rose into the air. The soldiers panicked and covered their mouths and noses to avoid the flames. However, thousands of peasants who were captured to operate the trebuchet were terrified and ran down the city shouting. Cao Zhen was furious. , Killed several people with a knife in a row, but couldn't stop the terrified peasants. They watched the crowds of peasants rushing down the corridor, and many people were squeezed down the corridor, screaming one after another.

At this time, the pottery jars of the Han army were thrown at the top of the city one after another, and the fire on the top of the northern city was getting bigger and bigger. Even Cao Zhen couldn't stay there, and was pulled down from the top of the city by his own soldiers. Finally, even the tower was engulfed by the fire. By the way, including Xuchang Palace, hundreds of buildings near Beicheng were also affected by Chiyu, and all of them were caught in the fire.

Liu Jing was condescending, looking coldly at the northern city engulfed by the fire. He was not in a hurry to launch an attack, but ordered the east and west walls to do the same. From morning to afternoon, and from afternoon to night, Xuchang's three city walls were engulfed in raging flames. The entire city of Xuchang was filled with thick smoke. The people and soldiers were terrified and evacuated to the south city where there was no fire. The morale of the army collapsed and the morale was extremely low.

Even Cao Zhen was in despair, he looked up to the sky and sighed, Cao Pi ordered him to defend the city at all costs, how could he hold it?

At night, the fire gradually diminished. The three city walls were burned to white ground, and the top of the city was so hot that it was impossible to gain a foothold. Under the walls of the northern city, countless Han troops suddenly appeared.

The Han army dug tunnels and entered the city. They did not encounter any resistance. More and more Han troops came out of the tunnels. In less than half an hour, thousands of Han troops poured out of the tunnels. They quickly gathered their forces and marched towards the north gate of the city. run.

Just at this time, Cao Zhen led thousands of soldiers back to Beicheng. The two armies met on the street in Beicheng, and then a fierce battle broke out.

Cao Zhen was also red-eyed, and brandished a big iron gun to kill wildly in the army. The soldiers of the Han army were at a disadvantage at first, but soon, as soldiers continued to kill from the tunnels and the top of the city, the number of Han soldiers gradually exceeded Cao Jun, the situation reversed. At this time, the gate of the northern city was finally opened by the Han army, and countless Han troops rushed in from outside the city, killing Cao Jun's soldiers crying and screaming, and fled in all directions.

Cao Zhen knew that the situation was over, so he turned his horse and ran towards the south city. He remembered that there were not many Han troops outside the south city, and he might be able to break through from the south city.

But as soon as his horse rushed to the gate of the south city, he found that the gate of the south city had been opened by Cao Jun soldiers who surrendered, and a Han army came to kill him. With a bright silver spear, three strands of black beard under his chin, and lightning-like eyes, he is none other than Zhao Yun, the Deputy Commander of the Han Army.

Zhao Yun also saw Cao Zhen, and without saying a word, he urged his horse to stand up and stab him. Cao Zhen was already flustered, and after fighting with Zhao Yun for less than three times, he let his horse run away, Zhao Yun sneered, and urged his horse to catch up in an instant With a flick of the silver gun, he shouted loudly, "Take your life!"

The silver gun pierced Cao Zhen's vest from behind like lightning, and the tip of the gun protruded from his chest. Cao Zhen screamed and was killed on the spot. Zhao Yun picked up Cao Zhen's body, and thousands of Han soldiers immediately cheered.

In May of the 24th year of Jian'an, the Han army captured Xuchang City overnight. Cao Zhen, the leader of the Cao Army, was stabbed to death by Zhao Yun. Local officials in Nanjun, Chenjun, Liangjun and so on expressed their stance to leave Wei State and pledge allegiance to Liu Jing, king of Han.

As the periphery was swept away, Luoyang had become an isolated city. At this time, Cao Pi successively mobilized fifteen armies and deployed them in Xuzhou, Peijun, Qiaojun and Shanyangjun, with Cao Ren as the main general, preparing to fight against the Han army. The final decisive battle.

At this time, the Han army was faced with the choice of attacking Luoyang first or attacking the original first.

........